The Great Gatsby. Адаптированная книга для чтения на английском языке. Уровень B1

«Doesn’t she like Wilson either?»

The answer to this was unexpected. It came from Myrtle, who had overheard the question, and it was violent and obscene.

«You see», cried Catherine triumphantly. She lowered her voice again. «It’s really his wife that’s keeping them apart. She’s a Catholic, and they don’t believe in divorce».

Daisy was not a Catholic, and I was a little shocked at the lie.

«When they get married at last», continued Catherine, «they’re going West to live for a while until it blows over[22 - Пока всё не уладится.

«It’d be more sensible to go to Europe».

В«Oh, do you like Europe?В» she exclaimed surprisingly. В«I just got back from Monte CarloВ».

В«ReallyВ».

В«Just last year. I went over there with another girlВ».

В«Did you stay there long?В»

«No, we just went to Monte Carlo and back. We had over twelve hundred dollars when we started, but we lost it all in two days in the private rooms[23 - В частных игорных залах.

The late afternoon sky shone in the window for a moment like the blue honey of the Mediterranean – then the sharp voice of Mrs. McKee called me back into the room.

«I almost made a mistake, too», she declared enthusiastically. «I almost married a nonentity who’d been after me for years. I knew he was below me. Everybody kept saying to me: �Lucille, that man’s �way below you!’ But for Chester[24 - Если бы не Честер.

«Yes, but listen», said Myrtle Wilson, «at least you didn’t marry him».

«I know I didn’t».

«Well, I married him», said Myrtle, ambiguously. «And that’s the difference between your case and mine».

В«Why did you, Myrtle?В» said Catherine. В«Nobody forced you toВ».

«I married him because I thought he was a gentleman», Myrtle said finally. «I thought he knew something about manners, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe».

В«You were crazy about him for a whileВ», said Catherine.

В«Crazy about him!В» cried Myrtle in disbelief. В«Who said I was crazy about him? I never was any more crazy about him than I was about that man thereВ».

She pointed suddenly at me, and every one looked at me accusingly. I tried to show by my expression that I had played no part in her past.

В«I was crazy when I married him. I knew right away I made a mistake.